Parusia benoisti, Gibbs, 2023

Gibbs, David, 2023, A world review of the bee fly tribe Usiini (Diptera, Bombyliidae) - Part 3: Parageron Paramonov s. lat., European Journal of Taxonomy 863 (1), pp. 1-162 : 129-132

Parusia benoisti gen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5989CE0E-4EE5-43D7-8267-C52411B4F5AB

Figs 19 , 62

Etymology

Named after French botanist and entomologist Raymond Benoist (1881–1970) who collected the majority of the type series.

Type material

Holotype

MOROCCO • ♂; “Oued Yquem, Alluaud [19]62/ Usia aurata F, det J. Bowden ”; MNHN.

Paratypes

MOROCCO • 1 ♂; “ Museum Paris , Maroc, Rabat, R Benoist 1928/ 7 Mai 1928 ”; MNHN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “same location 8 Mai 1928 ”; MNHN • 1 ♂; “ Oued Yquem , Alluaud 62”; MNHN • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; “ Museum Paris , Maroc, de M’rirt à El Hadjeb, R Benoist 1919”; MNHN • 3 ♀♀; “ Mai / Museum Paris, Maroc, Sidi Bettache, R Benoit [sic] 1928”; MNHN • 1 ♀; “ Museum Paris , Tanger (Env.), Favier 113-59”; MNHN • 1 ♀; “ Rabat , 30 May [19]34, Surcouf”; MNHN • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; “ Env ♂. Tanger, 4 May 1970, [leg.] P. duMerle”; MNHM • 1 ♀; “ Kenitra , N34°17′30.4″ W06°30′18.2″ 0 m 8 May 2008, leg. Dils J. & Faes J. ”; PCJD .

Description

MEASUREMENTS. Body length: 3.7–5.7 mm. Wing length: 4.0–5.0 mm.

Male

HEAD. Gena and mouth margin black in ground colour, narrower than the apical breadth of a palp, grey dusted gena linear, narrower then shining mouth margin. Frons black in ground colour, hind half

narrowing slightly from hind corners to well in front of anterior ocellus then widening fairly abruptly and evenly to front of frons. Eyes separated at their narrowest by 1.5–2.0 times the diameter of the front ocellus, hind ocelli contiguous with the eye margins or very narrowly separated. Ocellar tubercle shining, barely dusted, narrow part of frons grey dusted in front of front ocellus, darker, slightly shining at narrowest part, white dusted on front half, more thinly so medially. White hairs on ocellar tubercle about twice as long as the width of the frons at rear, narrow part of frons bare, anterior part of frons with numerous white hairs some of which are almost as long as those on the ocellar tubercle (variable and hairs easily lost). Occiput dark in ground colour densely covered with grey dust and outstanding white hairs, longest below; except on thinly dusted, hairless, shining triangular area behind ocellar tubercle. Ommatidia uniform in size across the eyes. Antennae black, postpedicel variable but usually relatively short, less than twice length of scape and pedicel together, sensilla in apical sulcus brown so not conspicuous. All antennal segments with short pale brown hairs above, longest just before subapical sulcus. Palps short but easily visible, clavate, black, the pale yellow apical setae as long as the length of the palps. Proboscis not very long, a little shorter than twice head length, dorsally clothed with short, adpressed brown setae extending about three quarters its length. Basoventral membrane dirty brownishwhite.

THORAX. Black ground colour largely obscured by blue-grey dust except along the conspicuous paramedian and antehumeral vittae where the shining black cuticle shows through, dulled by a variably thin coating of brownish to black dust dulling shine in some individuals. Paramedian vittae a little narrower than median dusted acrostichal stripe anteriorly, widening rearward stopping rather abruptly above the wing base. Antehumeral vittae interrupted at the thoracic suture, a vague blackish spot between wing base and hind part of antehumeral vittae. Occasionally a vague median darker, shinier prescutellar vittae present. Mesonotum covered with moderately long, pale yellow hair, the longest hairs as long as those on the ocellar tubercle. Scutellum more thinly dusted centrally, relatively sparsely haired on the disc, long hairs fringing the apical margin longer than those on mesonotum. Pleura dusted as on notopleuron and with similar hairs on pronotum, posterior half of the anepisternum and a few in upper middle of katepisternum.

WING. Membrane faintly brown tinged, the veins brown. Crossvein r-m a little beyond basal third of discal cell, conspicuously beyond m-cu. Anal lobe moderately developed with evenly convex margin, about as broad as the anal cell.

HALTERE. Pale yellow to white, base of stem slightly brownish.

LEGS. Coxae black with a coating of grey dust like that on the pleura. Remainder of legs black or very dark brown, essentially undusted so the shining cuticle is not dulled. Coxae externally and femora ventrally covered with rather long, pale yellow hairs, on the femora longer than the greatest depth of the femora. Femora dorsally and tibia rather densely covered with both short adpressed white hairs, and on tibia longer, semi-erect hairs, those in basal half of tibia as long as tibia is wide.

ABDOMEN. All tergites black subshining on disc dulled by black dust, laterally on the reflexed margins densely grey dusted obscuring the ground colour, most extensive on tergite one where visible dorsally. All tergites with narrow but conspicuous and sharply demarcated yellow apical margins, on tergite one this margin disappears laterally, on remaining tergites it broadens laterally then tapers away on reflexed margin. Sternites black and densely grey dusted obscuring the ground colour, apical yellow margins obscure. Tergites and sternites all covered with fairly long, dense, erect pale to golden yellow hairs.

GENITALIA. Conspicuously large and globular. Gonocoxites black to dark brown, shining, composed of two rounded hemispheres separated by a deep sulcus. Epandrium shining black to dark brown, relatively broad compared to length. Both gonocoxite and epandrium covered in long yellow hairs. The

black gonostyli can often be seen without dissection enabling the deeply incised inner basal margin, delimitated proximally by a triangular tooth to be seen.

Female

Very similar to male except for broader frons, narrowest at front ocellus where it is three times or more as wide as the diameter of that ocellus. Frons widening very slightly in rear half, almost parallel before widening out in anterior half, hairs more extensive along eye margins almost to the level of the front ocellus. Hind ocellus separated from eye margin by about a third of the diameter of that ocellus. Thorax with a tendency to be browner dusted, especially along acrostichal line and margins of the dark vittae. Yellow apical margins to the tergite relatively broader, tergite eight shining with broad yellow margin, tergite nine all black. Abdominal hairing a little sparser and shorter. Proximal part of genital fork at about 45° angle to the arms, shaped like an elongate spoon, basal spermathecal ducts greatly expanded and fusing conspicuously before the common vaginal plate/genital fork forming a common duct.

Remarks

A cryptic species that seems to replace Pru. aurata in the northwest of Morocco. Abundantly distinct on characters of both male and female genitalia, the very broadly expanded basal spermathecal duct suggests it is closer to Pru. cyrenaica gen. et sp. nov. and Pru. taeniolata than the parapatric Pru. aurata .

Distribution

Northwestern Morocco (Tangiers to Casablanca).

Figures

Fig. 19. Parusia benoisti gen. et sp. nov., ♂.

Fig. 62. Parusia benoisti gen. et sp. nov. a. Epiphallic complex ventral. b. Epiphallic complex lateral. c. Gonocoxite ventral. d. Gonocoxite lateral. e. Epandrium dorsal. f. Female genitalia ventral. g. Female genitalia lateral. h. Female sternite 8 ventral.